Why Spider-Man is poised to pounce on the big screen

ONLY a larger-than-life cinematic giant would have the confidence, one would think, to take over a project from Titanic film-maker James Cameron, alter it, and stamp it with his distinctive imprint. Sam Raimi hardly looks the part: a modest, self-effacing man who dresses in sombre suits and ties, he resembles an undertaker more than a creator of Hollywood blockbusters.

Web sight: the first picture of the costume that Maguire will wear in the title role

Yet, for millions of fantasy-horror fans around the world, the choice of Raimi was inspired. Who better to tackle the legend of Spider-Man than a director whose stylish surrealism has already established him with the comic-book crowd?

Raimi is bringing his talents, and $60 million of Columbia Pictures' money, to Spider-Man. After several years of nurturing the project, Cameron finally decided that he wanted to do other things.

"It's a big production and there are so many big problems," Raimi admits. "The audience has such great expectations. Spider-Man is almost like making Gone With the Wind."

Raimi's old-fashioned Midwestern good manners seem out of place in Hollywood, although he has lived in the area for 16 years and is married to the daughter of the late Western actor Lorne Greene. Facially - coincidentally, he says - he resembles Tobey Maguire, whom he has cast as Spider-Man and his alter ego Peter Parker, the teenager endowed with superheroic powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider.

Some critics feel that Maguire's high-pitched voice and somewhat wimpy appearance may not be right for the role of a superhero. "Tobey Maguire is OK," says Raimi, firmly. "He's not a Clark Kent or a Bruce Wayne. He is Peter Parker, an insecure teenager who is going through puberty and is a little bit of a loser. He has acne, he is a science geek and is something of a social outcast. What some people consider to be Tobey's weaknesses, I consider his strengths."

Raimi first became involved in film-making as a teenager when, with fellow classmates at Michigan State University, he wrote, produced and acted in 8mm fantasy adventure films. They rented cinemas and charged admission. If the audience booed and walked out - which, he says, they often did - Raimi knew that the film had to be improved. "In two years of doing that we learned so much," he says.

The creative partnership he formed with his fellow students still exists today, with Robert Tapert producing all his films and Bruce Campbell appearing in them. He made his first feature film, The Evil Dead, which he wrote and directed, in 1979, although it was not released until 1983 after critical success at Cannes. Notable for its gore, it became an international cult favourite. Raimi then delivered an even bloodier sequel, the cartoonish Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn and he became the horror addicts' favourite director.

He directed 1998's A Simple Plan, which won critical praise and a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for Billy Bob Thornton. He diversified into television, where he eventually served as executive producer of the syndicated and highly successful series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, Young Hercules and the futuristic Cleopatra 2525.

Although he has built his reputation on horror films, Raimi is not entirely happy with his legacy. "When I'm in a crowd and I see a movie like Evil Dead 2 and the kids are screaming and having a good time, I think that's great. On the other hand, I'm also sure that some responsible parents think it is disgusting. I understand that point of view.

"It's like constructing a roller-coaster - and I appreciate the artistry and craftsmanship that goes into constructing a roller-coaster ride that's effective. But it doesn't really do any long-term good."

It may be because it's his most recently completed project, but he professes to prefer such films as The Gift, a Gothic whodunit with supernatural undertones, set in the Deep South, to be released here on Friday.

"It's a story of redemption and of coming to terms with things and of how love conquers all," says Raimi, who directed from a script by Billy Bob Thornton. "The thrill to the audience is not as immediate, but I think the long-term effects are more valuable to me."

The Gift stars Cate Blanchett as Annie, a widow with three young children, who uses her telepathic talents to perform psychic readings for the neighbours. She is called in to use her gifts to help solve the murder of a local girl.

Raimi visited psychics and palm-readers as part of his preparation for the project. "I didn't really want them to try and tell my fortune or see into my future," he says. "I was doing my homework and studying them to see how they looked and how they appeared when they were receiving images. I wanted to be a believer, so I wasn't investigating the extent of their psychic abilities.

"It seemed as if they had a sense about you when you came in. They receive pictures, images in varying levels of sharpness or focus. It was all very, very real to everyone we talked to who claimed to have this power."

His work on The Gift completed, Raimi is now free to devote his time and energies to Spider-Man, which began shooting in Los Angeles in January and which should be ready for release in 2002. He has rewritten the script, supervised the building of the set and the designing of the costumes, cast the actors (Kirsten Dunst plays Parker's girlfriend, and Willem Dafoe is his nemesis, the Green Goblin) and stunt crew, and story-boarded the sequences.

"It's overwhelming how much planning has to go into this production," he says. "I feel like I'm either surfing a tidal wave or being swept up in it. But I'm still on top of the board right now."